POLITY AND SOCIETY

NATURE OF POLITY
 No general agreement on its nature
 Biased as per the thinkers preferences

 Different and conflicting interpretations

 Some consider it as a study of “state”

 Others consider it as a study of

“government”
 Some more advanced thoughts are also
given
CONVENTIONAL APPROACH
 The state is “people organized by law
within a definite territory”
 Government is the “helmsman of the
ship of the state”
 State issues orders and compels
obedience , by punishing those who
disobey
 No state acts by itself

 Some men/body of men competent to

issue orders form “government” who
act for the state.
MODERN APPROACH
 State includes “structure and function of
government, its forms & institutions, its
modes of representation, interaction of
various political groups, interest groups,
relationships between rule, authority &
power”
 Government is active and positive agent in
the direction of affairs of all communities.
 DEFINITIONS OF POLITICS

social relations involving intrigue

to gain authority or power
the study of government of states
and other political units
the profession devoted to
governing and to political affairs
the opinion you hold with respect
to political questions
the activities and affairs involved
in managing a state or a
government
AIMS OF POLITICS
 DEVELOPMENT: It is an avenue to develop manpower; to
develop infrastructure, to develop villages, to develop
agricultural sector and also to develop a sense of belonging
amongst people. Politics offers to us a platform from which
consistent development of ideas can be easily achieved. It is
also an avenue where the most difficult of ideas pertaining to
development can be implemented provided the will to do it is
present. The vision of rural development can be made possible
only through the field of politics.

 CREATION: It is a brilliant platform to create employment; to

create wealth, to create infrastructure; to create business
opportunities; to create ideas; and to create leaders. The field
is so open in nature that anyone associated with it can be an
associate in such creations. It creates employment, business
opportunities and wealth, it helps in creating infrastructure
and ideas, and with such experience can create strong
leaders. The scope that politics provides to implement creative
leadership is phenomenal in nature.
 SERVICE: Someone once said, “Leadership is to serve.
Nothing more, nothing less”. The sole motive for choosing
politics as the field to serve is because it is in tune with the
vision of achieving economic, social, infrastructural,
agricultural and rural development. The success of
development projects gives immense confidence to
effectively serve the needs of people.

 RESPONSIBILITY AND POWER: Politics is an avenue to

gain power, but at the same time it is the gateway to accept
the huge responsibility that comes with that power . With
more responsibility the passion towards fulfilling the duty
will only increase.

 PASSION: To carry out the responsibility effectively, one

needs to have passion. Passion that can withstand the
intermittent failures that people encounter in this field.
Passion that will not just drive, but also enables to drive
other people too.
 CHANGE: We are talking about change not just for the
sake of it, but for the betterment of existing things. It can be
as simple as changing the name of a department (for
example, from women welfare to women empowerment
ministry, health to health improvement ministry), and thus
redefine the scope of work the departments undertake. We
are talking about change through the involvement of people
in various schemes.

 PUBLIC AFFAIRS: Politics moves beyond the narrow

sphere of the government and comes to encompass the
public sphere of life which includes trade unions, political
parties, interest groups etc. Beginning from Aristotle’s book
Politics, in which he says that ‘man by nature is a political
animal’, there has been a long tradition of thinkers such as
Rousseau and J.S.Mill who have advocated active
participation of individuals in public life to promote,
‘personal, moral and intellectual development of the
individual’.
KEY FUNCTIONS OF THE POLITY
Establishment and maintenance of social
order, stability, and integration.
Developing social priorities and consensus.
More specifically:
 Creating and enforcing laws (police,
judiciary, and justice system).
 Establishing and enacting formal modes of
social regulation (legislative and regulatory
regimes and practices that enact a
society’s value systems and normative
orientations).
KEY FUNCTIONS OF THE POLITY
(CONT’D.)

 Setting social goals and priorities for the

allocation of social and individual resources
 International relations (everything from trade and
security to war and peace)
 Legitimising the use of force in society’s interests